Hong Kong’s film industry may have weakened in comparison to China’s, but not that weak. With Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday recognizing “Ten Years” as the Best Picture, it was like the special administrative region (SAR) just gave Beijing a hard slap on the face.
After all, even the major mainland broadcasters such as Tencent and China Central Television cooperated with the mainland government and opted not to air for the first time in 34 years the award night. For Ng ka-leung, one of the directors of "Ten Years," the snub by mainland broadcasters has little value.
“If you ask me what Beijing might feel towards us, I would say it doesn’t really matter. The movie was made for Hong Kong people. We are open-minded to anyone who likes it or not,” quoted The Guardian.
Even within Hong Kong, some movie houses refused to exhibit the movie about life in Hong Kong when it becomes a semi-autonomous territory in 2025. But in spite of the limited run, the film – exhibited at the end of December – earned HK$6 million even if the producers spent only HK$500,000 to make the movie.
It uses five vignettes to share the worst fear of residents as the Communist Party of China further tightens its hold on the SAR. Chow Kwun-wai, one of the directors, stressed, “Ten Years exposed the fear of Hong Kong people (towards China),” quoted BBC.
While Global Times, a state-run newspaper, described “Ten Years” as “a virus of the mind” and “totally absurd,” Andrew Choi, producer of the movie, said, “The meaning of this prize is that it shows Hong Kong still has hope. It reminds us that we could have courage to be creative.”
The Best Film was “Ten Years’” only award. The Best Actor and Actress awards went to Aaron Kwok and Jessie Lee of “Port of Call” which also got the Best Screenplay for Philip Yung Tsz Kwong, Best Supporting Actor and Best New Performer for Michael Ning, Best Supporting Actress for Elaine Jin and Best Cinematographer for Christopher Doyle awards.